Kathy Brunetti
California Department of Pesticide Regulation
Environmental Monitoring and Pest Management Branch
(916) 324-4100
brunetti@empm.cdpr.ca.gov
After April 1, contact Jenny Broome at jbroome@cdpr.ca.gov, same phone #.
Release No. 96-09
Date: March 28, 1996
DPR AWARDS $600,000 IN GRANTS FOR
INNOVATIVE PEST MANAGEMENT PROJECTS
SACRAMENTO -- A Central Coast project to find alternatives to methyl
bromide for fumigating fruit, a program to train a new generation of "green
gardeners" in San Francisco, a Paso Robles project to use farm weather
stations to help make pesticide application decisions, and a program to
save Sacramento trees from elm leaf beetles are among 24 recipients of
nearly $600,000 in "Innovations in Pest Management" grants announced this
week by the state's Pest Management Advisory Committee.
Grants were awarded to projects in Butte, Fresno, Glenn, Kern,
Madera, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Riverside, Sacramento, San Francisco,
San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma,
Stanislaus, Tehama, Tulare and Yolo Counties.
The Pest Management Advisory Committee was formed in 1992 by
Cal/EPA's Department of Pesticide Regulation and the California Department
of Food and Agriculture. Legislation last year placed the committee into
law. Among other responsibilities, it evaluates grant applications, making
recommendations to the DPR director. DPR Director James W. Wells concurred
with the committee's recommendations in awarding the grants.
"We are committed to encouraging voluntary efforts to develop
reduced-risk pest management systems," said Jean-Mari Peltier, committee
chair and DPR chief deputy director. "California has always been a leader
in environmental technology and we are delighted with the wide variety of
projects that we will be able to help. These projects exemplify the kind
of innovation we are encouraging with our annual 'IPM Innovators' awards.
The grant program is an incubator for future Innovator awards."
DPR's IPM Innovator program, established in 1994, recognizes
organizations and groups that are leaders in adopting techniques that
increase the benefits and reduce the risks of pest control.
"The pioneering spirit has always been strong in California
agriculture," said Nita Vail, CDFA director of environmental policy and
committee co-chair. "These are the kind of innovative projects that the
state's farmers often don't get recognition for doing."
In November 1995, DPR solicited applications from individuals and
groups interested in grants to pursue projects in innovative pest
management practices. The grant program is funded with $514,000 in monies
collected from a license surcharge on produce brokers and food processors,
and an additional $85,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region IX, headquartered in San Francisco.
"Because most of the money comes from agriculture through the
license surcharge, most of the projects we are funding are agricultural,"
said Peltier, "although we were pleased to provide money to three
outstanding non-agricultural projects as well."
DPR received more than 70 proposals that requested a total of $1.8
million. Grants were awarded to innovative projects throughout the state.
Awards ranged from $5,000 to $30,000. Grants are for one year, and may be
renewed.
The Pest Management Advisory Committee includes representatives of
all aspects of agricultural production--from those who practice traditional
chemical-intensive crop protection techniques to organic farmers;
government regulators, environmental groups active in the pesticide arena,
and university representatives. Its purpose is to encourage the
development, testing and dissemination of new pest management practices.
Its focus is alternatives to threatened pesticide uses that are critical to
integrated pest management.
Kathy Brunetti